Xiaoyun

CHINA, Guangdong, Foshan

Xiaoyun had an original name of You Yunshan and a Dharma name of Nengjing. She was a Chan nun, scholar, artist, and educator from Nanhai, Foshan. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Hong Kong and Nanzhong Private Academy of Fine Art. Learning painting from Gao Jianfu, the founder of the Lingnan school, Xiaoyun became well acclaimed as an outstanding female painter in Lingnan (southern China). In 1946, she traveled to India to study Indian art and ancient Indian culture. There, she was also a guest lecturer for the Institute of Fine Arts at Tagore University. She established a school to educate young people in Buddhist literature and art in 1952, and she later founded the Yuan Chuan Press where she published Yuan Chuan Magazine to advocate Confucian and Buddhist spirit and promote international cultural and artistic exchange.
Between 1955 and 1958, Xiaoyun traveled to over 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and America to give lectures on Chan and Chinese art and present exhibitions of her own work. In 1958, she renounced under Master Tanxu of the Tiantai school at Cham Shan Monastery in Hong Kong. She then established several schools and a Buddhist Culture and Art Association to promote cultural and educational programs. In 1967, Xiaoyun was invited by Chang Chi-Yun, the founder of Chinese Culture University, to teach Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist art, after which she established and became the dean of the Graduate Institute of Buddhist Culture. In addition, she founded several other Buddhist educational institutes to cultivate young talent. She organized 10 international conferences on Buddhist education, and over 38 art exhibitions. In 1990, she established Huafan University in New Taipei City, which was the first general university founded by a Buddhist organization in Chinese Buddhist history, and in 1997, she was awarded the Culture Award from the Executive Yuan of Taiwan.
Xiaoyun painted the landscape of Ascetic Practice on Snowy Mountain and the figurative work of Attaining Enlightenment. She also illustrated ink paintings such as A Practitioner Leans on a Stick to View Clouds and The Bridge is Flowing, Not the Stream. In 1948, she finished Buddha Shadow, which measures 87 cm wide, 244 cm high, and is flanked on each side by paintings 40 cm in width. Another work, an ink painting completed in 1957 entitled Eventually It Will be Only a Pile of Mud features a teapot and Buddhist verse and exhibit Chan taste. Many of her paintings still exist and are shown in the Exhibition Hall of Huafan University and culture centers in Taiwan. In addition, Xiaoyun wrote and published several books. The Yuan Chuan Press collected, categorized, and published her works on Buddhist art, Buddhist doctrine, Chan teachings, education, culture and art, travel, and music. The completed work comprises over 70 volumes.